Preventing Ingrown Toenails

If you have never experienced the pain that is an ingrown toenail, feel lucky, very lucky. Hopefully those of us unfortunate enough to experience them have learned from them and know now how to prevent them in the future. It is impossible to completely prevent an ingrown toenail, but there are some ways that can help you to avoid them.

Make sure you wear the right type of footwear. I am very guilty of this as I am an avid flip-flop wearer. But wearing closed toe shoes will be your saving grace in this case. Ingrown toenails can happen because you can chip your nails when barefoot or wearing flip-flops and then they start to grow back in crooked. Be sure that the shoes you do wear are not too small or too tight. I try to wiggle my toes when I'm trying on a new paid of shoes. You want to make sure your toes have plenty of space and are not pinching or crammed together.

During your daily bathing ritual, wash your feet. This may or may not come as a surprise, but many people do not wash their feet. Statistics show that most people assume since they are standing in the shower and the soap is running down to their feet that their feet are getting clean. You have to really wash your feet. Scrub them, your feet and toes.

Avoid cutting your toenails too much. Your toenails should not stick out past the nail bed and should never be cut shorter. This causes potential for re-growth the wrong way. If you keep your toenails cut just in line with the nail bed, they cannot grow back into the sides of the nail bed causing an ingrown toenail.

Once they are the appropriate length try to cut them in a straight line. You don't want to make them round on the sides because that creates a path for them to grow back into the nail bed. Cut then straight from end to end with a pair of nail scissors if the clippers can't do it. Never pull a nail once it's cut to try and get it out the rest of the way. This is where the nail scissors would come in handy. You do not want to cause sharp or jagged edges which will have the potential to grow back wrong. Cut then as straight as possible and then use a nail file to straighten out any inconsistencies.

When in doubt, get a pedicure. Pedicures are fairly inexpensive and will keep your toenails prim and proper thus preventing any pesky ingrown from occurring. This is also a good way to rid your toenails of any fungus you might acquire. The pedicurist will know exactly how to treat it and you'll have it taken care of in no time.